http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2016/03/30/catfight-des-largest-animal-shelters-refuse-strays/82437796/.
The reality is that most of us like sweet little animals, if only in pictures.
So, what evil illness is spreading so quickly that these vicious animals can't dare to be mixed with the cute and cuddly ones?
Has it been a super-human spring where the world is suddenly overpopulated by billions of baby furry things?
Are the shelters teaming with animals clawing at the windows for a fresh breath and a new home?
No? What, then? Political Infighting. It goes something like this:
Brandywine Valley SPCA won the state's animal control contract and opened a new facility right here in Delaware. Only, their inn isn't big enough for all the animals.
Note: They've moved as many vetted guests as feasible to temporary mangers in other states, but it's just a short-term solution.
Then Brandywine did the next reasonable things to do - the center reached out it's brethren Delaware SPCAs asking 1st State Animal Center and SPCA and the Delaware SPCA for help.
And got smacked down.
I'm told it went something like this (fictionalized personification of email/text/phone calls between 1st State and B-wine):
"Yo, Kenny U., 1st State Got Space?
"Yep, I got, Lambchops. But, I ain't sharing wit u."
"Ken, man, we gonna have to take Fido out if we don't get no help."
"Take out Fido, dude. We in the doggie daycare bid-ness now."
Yes, you may vent the obligatory WTF now.
It didn't go much better with Delaware SPCA, they didn't respond, leaving B-wine and Lambchops hanging in the wind and animals lining up for Euthanasia.
So, here is the crazy - Despite sharing a name, SPCA, most of these organizations are not truly networked or even patchworked together. There is no ladder to climb, no mother ship to beam up to when you have a complaint, concern, or compliment. Yes, there is an ASPCA (A=American) but they literally have nothing to do with the little "chapters" that spring up in the states or elsewhere.
Got Money? Got Space? U2 could open your own SPCA.
It all boils down to this (hold your Easter Bunnies close):
They have similar names and equivocal missions, with open cages and capacity; Yet, Delaware's SPCA's behave like politicians. It's a pretty pathetic state of affairs when they'd rather see animals put to death even though they have mission statements that read like this:
The mission of the First State Animal Center and SPCA is twofold:WE PROTECT ANIMALS FROM PEOPLE…by prevention of cruelty and suffering, rescue of the trapped or injured, emergency medical treatment, temporary housing for homeless animals and the reduction of homeless pet overpopulation through targeted spay/neuter and education programs.AND WE PROTECT PEOPLE FROM ANIMALS…through our serious commitment in placing only stable, safe and well-adjusted animals into homes where they will thrive while simultaneously educating the public about responsible pet guardianship. -http://www.fsac-spca.org/info/#/mission/
Let us all bow our heads and pray now that 1st State's board euthanizes Director Ken Usilton's Contract for direct violation of the organization's mission.
7 comments:
Too bad this is so uninformed. Elizabeth, you should be one of the first to be skeptical of anything the News Journal prints. This is scandalous but not for the reasons you have been led to believe according to Adam Lamb's quotes. Sad.
1)Informed
2) skeptical
3) Sorry you didn't like the literary devices used to show the absurdity of the animal welfare issues at hand - not enough room at the SPCA INN.
4) I know about the drama between the various the groups, the crooked elected officials, the fits and rages on both sides. And the pathetic reality that unless someone grows up, the animal state of affairs in this state will never improve.
5) If Adam Lamb will send $$$ with his vetted animals, I firmly believe that both SPCAs should open their kennels.
6) And, Ken Ulsiton, violated his company's mission when he refused to house the animals at the outset. Crying Political Foul this late in the game only hurts the animals that all the Organizations in Play have sworn to protect.
7) Delaware SPCA only got a pass in this post b/c they were smart enough not to respond to Lambchops. Had a spokesperson uttered something as stupid at Usilton had, I would played satirical with them, too.
8) In the end, it's all about choices. Politics. Money. It hasn't really been about the lost, injured, stray, or forlorn in a very long time.
The state stripped away funding for the two shelters under scrutiny. Brandywine got the funds. They can't make the case that unfunded organizations must go bankrupt to take in these animals we are paying Brandywine to care for.
The state denying contracts to FSAC meant they laid most of their employees after their board decided not to fight in court (the FOIA-exposed emails between FF, NCC Auditor, etc. tell that story). If Brandywine wants to pay for the sheltering at other sites, they should say so. Adam Lamb made no such offer or did I miss something.
Read this for a more balanced view -
http://delawarepublic.org/post/two-first-state-animal-shelters-turn-away-strays
And don't you think that the SPCAs would make for a much stronger voice as a United Front rather than 2 and a mute?
No one here is above the fray. And yes, it would be great if Adam Lamb hadn't low-balled his contract and now can't afford to do his job. From facebook -
"Here's the point that keeps getting missed -- Neither FSAC nor DE SPACA is PAID to accept strays.
Adam Lamb is supposed to do when OAW hired him -- he's being paid over 6 MILLION dollars to pick up & house strays -- what part of this don't you understand? This is HIS job & seems he's failing miserably isn't he? What did you expect -- low bid & now he's a cry baby!
The director at Delaware SPCA provided an excellent response to the inflammatory nature of the article. Fortunately residents can see what is happening, and a state contractor trying to strong arm other shelters to force them to do their job is completely innapropriate.
https://www.facebook.com/DelawareSPCA/posts/1065227660185721
Before dog control contracts, Kent County SPCA (now known as First State Animal Center) was a small shelter and built the larger facility to do their job as dog control. Needless to say, the majority of their funding was pulled due to politics by the State, and as a result their are limited funds to hold animals.
Capacity care for animals is based on the number of personnel and health resources needed to care for those animals, and Kent County has the smallest population in the state with under 170,000 people and with lower per capita earnings, so clearly the donation pool is much smaller than the shelters in New Castle County. As a result, FSAC is using boarding and daycare in the second building to supplement their donations to still remain a larger number of animals than they handled before dog control. Unfortunately Mr. Lamb doesn't have the business sense to realize that a shelter with a donation base under half a million can't handle the same number of dogs as they were handling when their revenue was $4 million with the various contracts.
Mr. Lamb wanted the contract and has aligned himself with the folks that have been trying to put FSAC out of business for years, but what I think is odd is that those complaining about the SPCA's never spoke up when Faithful Friends wasn't taking dogs from FSAC, and was also importing animals from other states. In fact, BVSPCA also still imports dogs into their shelter, and where is the shock and awe about the fact he wants other shelters to do his job while he brings animals into his shelter from the south?
Maybe folks need to accept the reality that a handful of folks plotted and planned to get FSAC out of dog control and those folks and their new contractor need to assume responsibility for those actions.
-Original Message-----
From: "Blevins Patricia (LegHall)"
To: Anne Cavanaugh
Cc: "Ranji Jennifer (Governor)" , "jane@faithfulfriends" , "bengal98@aol"
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:39:14 +0000
Subject: RE: meeting tonight recap - confidential
Maybe you could bid on Kent County at $3.52 per person, same as Wilmington. You would beat their bid. If they lost just one contract, they would be underwater for sure, because they are so drastically underbidding New Castle County.
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